Honda Q&A

2004 Honda Accord Question: ticking sound

Hi, I too love my Honda. No problems, except when the hood was up, I heard a "ticking" sound. When I asked the mechanic at Valvolene (changing my battery), he said it could be a number of things, but he didn't specify. I'm wondering, like what? I have 78,000 miles, brakes replaced once, change oil every 5,000 miles and keep up on other maintenance. Thanks for your help!

It is hard to say without hearing the ticking sound first hand. It could be your valve clearance. The valves in this engine have traditional screw and nut type adjustment. The fuel injectors make a faint ticking sound each time they inject fuel into the engine that you would only hear with the hood up but it is very faint. The air conditioning compressor cycling in and out makes a clicking sound but may only be a few times a minute.

I have a 2004 Accord (4cyl) that experiences the same ticking sound. From what I can tell by listening to the motor I think the sound is coming from the lifters. Mine has been doing this for some time now, although I really only notice when I pop the hood. I'm not too worried about it as my sister bought a 2007 Accord with the same motor and I can already tell her's is making the same noise. Nothing has been affected by the noise (milage, ect). so I'm going to let it slide.